Epilogue's Epilogue
by ellabella89
Summary: This is just a glimps at Peeta and Katniss' family life after the third book, a cute little one shot. Don't read until you've read Mocking Jay, it contains spoilers. :


_I haven't died! It must seem so due to my lack of updating but I have not had the chance to do any writing at all. I wrote this in honour of the movie coming out in 5 days, so I hope you enjoy. :)_

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><p>"Katniss." she heard him call out quietly, rousing her from the mystical land between the dream realm and consciousness.<p>

A feather-like touch tickled her skin, causing her to brush it away irritably, though it did feel rather nice. It reappeared on the other side of her face, just as soft and pleasant, much to her disbelief.

"Katniss..." The feather touched her nose, and Katniss finally opened her eyes. Beautiful blue ones stared back at her, the corners wrinkling as he smiled. She broke the gaze to take in her surroundings, an old habit from the Games never truly broke. The feather, she found, wasn't a feather at all, but the end of her braid in Peeta's fingers, right where the tie held it together. Further investigation provided that there was sunlight streaming through the window. That must have meant...She sat up quickly, almost smacking her forehead against Peeta's.

"The whole night?" she questioned waiting for Peeta to confirm her suspicions. When he did nod, she flopped back down on her pillow with an exhilarated smile. Her hands came up to frame his face.

"We'll have to put this in the book."

"Of course. This is a milestone in our lives, why wouldn't we record it?" He responded with a smile and leaned down to give her a kiss good morning. She happily returned it before remembering something of less importance.

"Peeta-" but she was unable to finish the thought. She saw movement in the corner of her eye, hunting instincts causing her to become immobile and very alert. Sure enough the bedroom door crept open slowly, allowing to pairs of eyes, one blue, one gray, to peak through the crack that was created. Relaxing, she thought to start a game, hoping Peeta would be up for the challenge. She pretended not to notice them, flicking her eyes back to Peeta. He caught the mischievous glint in her eye and started to turn toward where her gaze had landed. Before he could have sight on the door, Katniss's hand stopped him, so the game wouldn't be over so soon.

"Peeta, I think we'll have to give the childrens' toys away, and all their lovely things we've graced them with."

"No!" he said in mock horror, his own impish sparkle present in his eyes when he heard the miniature gasps.

"Well what are we to do? They have been horrible little rug rats!" Katniss dramatized.

"I think it would be much more punishing if we gave them lots of treats first, and then take them away."

"Maybe cupcakes, made by only the best baker around?" Katniss offered, sitting up so she was looking at her husband.

"I was thinking more along the lines of angel cake with fresh berries and sweet whipping cream." Peeta said with the excitement of a baker, shifting to his knees and sitting on his feet so he was at the same level.

"And peppermints from the candy maker!"

"Or those colorful lolly pops!"

"With a piece of chocolate to finish!"

They sat up taller with every addition to the menu, the cries of horror from the littles encouraging their game.

"Of course! And right when they are about to take a bite, we snatch them away and eat them for ourselves!" Peeta said with a loud shout, hooking his arms around Katniss' waist, and falling backwards on to the bed. They laughed awful, maniacal laughs that made their children question whether or not the people in the room were truly their parents.

"That would be most diabolical, but entirely necessary for them to understand what vile things they have done." Peeta said, true, real laughter escaping through his dramatic act.

"I say we should start right away and pretend their breakfast will be angel cake." Katniss said with a giggle, the act falling to pieces around them.

"Sounds perfect, love."he chuckled, giving her another kiss.

The sound of the running footsteps across their floor broke them apart.

"Mamma! Daddy! You wouldn't really do that to us, would you?" Their eldest asked while clambering onto the bed. She sat away from them at the foot of the bed warily, helping her struggling brother up while still keeping a steady eye on her parents.

"Of course not, cupcake, we were just teasing." Peeta explained, holding his arms out in an apologetic hug. She crept closer to him carefully, Peeta's pout encouraging her into the embrace, since she was willing to make her father happy once again.

The young one clumsily walked towards his mother, falling into her lap.

"Only teasing, but I'm sure we could manage some angel cake at some point today, especially since you guys slept the entire night without waking up." She told the boy with praise while fluffing his wavy hair with her fingers and sharing an approving nod with Peeta.

"Are we really that horrid?" The girl asked in a sad tone.

"Well..." Peeta started before Katniss lightly punched his arm. He laughed, before correcting himself.

"No, you guys are the most well behaved children parents could ever have."

"I think everyone is envious of us because of your good behavior." Katniss added with a smile, poking the boy in her arms' tummy, causing him to giggle.

"I'm pretty sure your friends think your the most well behaved as well." Peeta said as he tickled the girls ribs, causing shrill screams of hysteric laughter to echo in the room. When he finally let her calm down she had tears running down her face and was desperately trying to catch her breath.

"But Daddy..." she gasped, "my friends don't think about me being well behaved. We just play." She said in a tone that made it the most obvious thing in the entire world. Peeta chuckled at his daughters reasoning.

"All the well, we'll stop at the bakery during our walk and we can make angel cake together. How does that sound?"

She started cheering, wiggling out of his arms to jump on the bed in excitement. The boy, not fully understanding why he was doing it, followed his sisters lead, jumping with her to express his unknown joy.

"Are you excited, little man? I'll make you your favourite special cookie, okay?" Peeta told his son, finally giving him a reason for his excitement. He suddenly stopped jumping, looking to his father in question.

"I help oo dada?" He asked in his young lisp.

"Of course."

The children continued to jump while their parents looked on. Peeta's hands went around Katniss' waist, lifting her slightly over his one leg so she could rest her back against his chest. Peeta kissed the nape of her neck before rubbing his hands soothingly across her middle. They watched them jump and then start a game of knocking each other over for a while before Peeta spoke just to her.

"Should we tell them the latest news?" as his hands continued to smooth over her belly. She placed her hands on top of his.

"Whenever you're ready." she answered before looking up at him and exchanging a kiss. She called for the kids attention.

"Daddy and I have something to tell you guys." They slowly stopped jumping, looking to their faces for an indication of what type of news they were going to bring. Both of their parents had wide smiles so they assumed that whatever it was, it was going to be something good.

"In six more months, the family is going to change." Peeta said, his brilliant eyes brightening with every word. The young girls eyes widened at the familiarity of the words and started shrieking. The other looked lost, his sister's reaction unhelpful.

"What wrong mama?" He asked with a brow furrowed in worry.

"Nothing's wrong. There's going to be a baby in the house soon. You're going to be an older brother!"she explained with enthusiasm.

"Oh." he replied, processing what this might mean in his mind. He decided quickly that it was good news, and clapped his hands before getting up and bouncing with his sister once again.

When the girl finally ran out of energy for the moment, Katniss held her arms open for her. She ran into them before getting low and resting an ear against her mother's stomach.

"Can the baby hear me, mamma?" Peeta's hand brushed the girl's hair away from her face while Katniss formed a response.

"Not just yet, but soon. Then I'll let you talk to the baby whenever you want, okay?"

She only nodded, keeping her head where it was. The boy, discouraged from jumping without his sister, went to curl up beside her, following her lead and placing an ear on his mother's abdomen so that his eyes were on his sister's face.

Katniss laughed lightly at their antics before resting her head against Peeta's shoulder.

"That went surprising well."she commented in a low voice.

Peeta chuckled again, agreeing, and interlocked her fingers with his as he looked upon his family.

"This is the best morning of my life. Real or not real?"

She kissed his jaw with a smile before opening her mouth to answer.

"Real," the small boy said in his tell-tale lisp.

"Real," the girl said simply. They were familiar with their parents' game, and knew that this response was the one he was searching for.

Katniss immediately got misty eyed and through her blurred vision saw that Peeta's eyes watered as well. They gave each other a squeeze through their hands, before Katniss responded in a hoarse voice, "Real."

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><p><em>So that's that. If I work on any of my other stories that are still in progress, you'll be the first to know. R&amp;R if you have the heart to forgive my lack of updates. Happy Hunger Games!<em>

_Love, Ella_


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